Anger after car forced off road by ‘drink driver’

A woman has told of her terror after narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a suspected drunk driver – and criticised police for failing to investigate.

Just days after Lancashire Police launched its festive drink drive campaign, urging residents to report incidents to them, Jennifer Bennett urged officers to act after her ordeal.

She was travelling home with her husband on Bryning Lane near Wrea Green, at around 4.45pm on Sunday when another car came careering around a bend on the wrong side of the road, she said.

Mrs Bennett told The Gazette their car narrowly missed a head-on collision and was forced to veer off the road.

She said: “If my husband hadn’t reacted so quickly we’d have been hit head on. We were forced to a stop with our passenger side front wheel up on the high grass verge.

“It scared the life out of us both, so we turned around, caught up with him, and followed him.

“We pulled up behind him outside a house and straight away it was obvious he was paralytic.

“I called the police. After a 25 minute wait near his house, they called me back to say that all three traffic units were busy, but unless the police saw him driving, they can’t do anything.”

Lancashire Police said a ‘serious incident’ meant officers were unable to respond but the details have been passed on for ‘further action’

Mrs Bennett said: “I was completely let down by the police. We could easily have been killed in a head on collision.

“To my thinking, a crime was definitely committed but the perpetrator got away with it. And what kind of message does that send to other potential drink drivers? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the police run an advertising campaign asking us to report drunk drivers?”

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “We take all reports of suspected drink/drug driving very seriously. Unfortunately on this occasion, resources were allocated due to a serious incident and we were unable to send out a patrol.”